COUNCIL chiefs have revealed that a decision on the future of the controversial Burton bollards is soon to be made – more than four months after a disagreement over maintenance costs saw the system put out of use.

Staffordshire County Council chiefs revealed they were working with their borough council counterparts to come up with a solution to an issue that had dragged on since March, when a stalemate between the county council and East Staffordshire Borough Council saw the bollards 'grounded'.

Bosses at the county council are also liaising with officers from Staffordshire Police in an effort to remind drivers that they are breaking the law if they drive along High Street.

Mark Winnington, county council cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: "The county council and East Staffordshire Borough Council are continuing to work closely together to explore the options for the management of traffic in Burton town centre and expect to have the findings from these investigations shortly.

"Although the bollards remain down, 'no access' signs are in place and many buses carry signs warning about tailgating too.

"We need to be absolutely clear that drivers who choose to deliberately ignore these, like any other warning traffic signs, are not only breaking the law and quite rightly face prosecution, but are also putting the lives of residents at risk."

Police chiefs echoed the message and urged people to 'not ignore' the fact, despite the bollards being down.

A spokesman for East Staffordshire Borough Council said: "We understand that county highways hopes to shortly be able to table plans for the bollards in East Staffordshire."

A county spokesman said earlier this year there were no plans to remove the bollards, but following a dispute over the monitoring of the posts it was revealed that could be an option, with the introduction of ANPR cameras.

A review which investigated options for the bollards was published in February, offering three options for the highways department to consider.

It had been commissioned at the start of last year following a run of drivers being spiked.